Church feud: Orthodox faction ignores patriarch's letter

KOTTAYAM/T'PURAM: In a major setback to the efforts to bring peace in the Malankara Church, the Synod of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church held here on Wednesday decided not to hold talks with the patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church Ignatius Aphrem II.

The decision has foiled the move by the spiritual head of the Jacobite faction who had arrived in Kerala to hold peace talks with the orthodox church.

The synod took up topics which were in the agenda and refused to hold any discussions on a letter written by the patriarch to the Orthodox church head. In the letter, the patriarch had expressed his desire to hold peace talks either in Kerala or in Delhi.

However, the Orthodox church has taken the stand that it was possible to bring peace only if talks were based on the constitution of the church made in 1934 and the Supreme Court judgment of 2017.

Meanwhile, in Thiruvananthapuram, the patriarch of Antioch met chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and assured the CM that he would do "whatever possible" to settle the dispute between the two factions of the Malankara Church. "The patriarch expressed satisfaction over the government's initiatives in ending the ongoing feud," the CM said in a Facebook post later.

Vijayan, during the meeting, appealed to the patriarch to continue with his peace initiatives as 'most believers owing allegiance to both the factions wanted to settle the dispute and restore peace'. "The government will provide all support. There are people who argue that deliberations wouldn't yield results as the dispute date back to more than a century. We do not agree with such an argument. The faithful want peace, which can be achieved through discussions," the CM said.

The patriarch, meanwhile, said there should be sincere efforts for peace from all quarters, 'though there are court orders'. "I flew down from Damascus with the hope that the disputes can be settled through discussions. We know that people desire for peace. I ensure that I will do whatever possible to establish peace," he said.